Israeli Says Palestinians Smuggle Antiaircraft Missiles Into Gaza

By STEVEN ERLANGER

Published: March 29, 2005

Palestinians have smuggled several Strela shoulder-fired missiles, which pose a threat to Israeli aircraft, into the Gaza Strip with the help of members of the Palestinian military intelligence agency, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said in an interview on Sunday night.

''This crosses a red line for us,'' Mr. Mofaz said, speaking in his Tel Aviv office. He said he had ordered the Israeli commander in Gaza, Maj. Gen. Dan Harel, to meet with Moussa Arafat, chief of the intelligence unit, ''and demand that they better put their hands on the smugglers and the Strelas and hand them over to us.''

The Strela antiaircraft missiles, developed by the Soviet Union in the 1960's and then modernized, can be used against low-flying aircraft like the helicopters that are crucial for Israeli intelligence, especially in Gaza.

Most Israeli aircraft can deal with Strelas, said Iftah Shapir of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University. But for Mr. Mofaz, a former military chief of staff, the Strelas are a telling example of how little the new Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, known as Abu Mazen, has been able to put his stamp on the competing Palestinian security services.

''It's a one-man show,'' Mr. Mofaz said. ''There's a big gap between Abu Mazen's intentions and what we see in the field. All the others continue to act in the same way as before.''

The lack of unity goes beyond commanders, he said. ''We know Abu Mazen and Nasser Yousef,'' the Palestinian interior minister, ''want to coordinate Gaza disengagement with us,'' Mr. Mofaz said. But he added that Ahmed Qurei, the prime minister, ''is speaking about not coordinating with us.''

Mr. Mofaz, who was interviewed just before he flew to Washington for meetings with senior American officials, clearly wanted to explain why Israel was not moving more quickly to keep the promises it made to Mr. Abbas at a summit meeting in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, on Feb. 8.

There, the Israelis agreed to return security control over five cities in the West Bank to the Palestinians by late February. The Palestinians, he insists, have not kept their promises to disarm 17 wanted fugitives in Jericho and 35 in Tulkarm; ensure that they abandon their military organizations and give up terrorism; keep them under security control; and ensure that they remain within the city limits for at least six months.

''They've had Jericho back for two weeks and Tulkarm more than one week, and we don't see them dealing with the fugitives, as we agreed,'' Mr. Mofaz said. ''Another 10 to 12'' wanted men have moved into Tulkarm ''to seek immunity,'' he said.

The Palestinians complain that Israel is dragging its feet and continuing to thicken settlements, harming Mr. Abbas instead of helping him and making it more likely that the militant group Hamas will do well in the July 17 parliamentary elections.

Mr. Mofaz insists, though, that he has done what Mr. Abbas asked. He cited steps like removing 288 Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank, opening the main road through the Gaza Strip and allowing more Palestinians to work in Israel. ''The Palestinian people feel there is a change,'' he said. ''But we don't feel there is a change in the Palestinian security groups fighting against terrorism.''

The security forces ''have a lot of disagreements about who will be the commander, who will lead,'' he said.

At the same time, Mr. Mofaz says he thinks the main Palestinian political grouping, Fatah, is losing ground rapidly to Hamas, which has agreed to maintain a period of quiet with Israel and to take part in the elections but emphasizes its military resistance to Israeli occupation.

''My fear is that Hamas will be too strong in the Palestinian parliament,'' he said. ''If Hamas becomes part of the Palestinian Authority and leaves terrorism behind, I believe it's some kind of solution. But, and it's a big but, we should make sure that all of Hamas's infrastructure for terrorism will be dismantled.''

Mr. Mofaz is directing military planning to dismantle the 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and 4 small ones out of the 120 in the West Bank.

But it is only with political battles finished that it will be possible to know how many of the nearly 9,000 settlers will resist leaving, he said. ''It's very difficult to predict the percentage right now, and that will make a big difference,'' he said.

Mr. Mofaz is intent on cordoning off Gaza to prevent those seeking confrontation from reinforcing the settlers. He wants the evacuation to be continual and rapid -- no more than four weeks. He has told the cabinet that he will start cracking down on settlers who attack Palestinians or Israeli troops in the West Bank.